


One Bad Apple Spoils the Whole Bunch

by FairythePigeon (Me_aGlorifiedPigeon)



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies), Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Child Abandonment, Child Neglect, Dubious Ethics, Dubious Morality, Fairy Tale Elements, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Legal Shit, Wrongful Imprisonment
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:06:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24401785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Me_aGlorifiedPigeon/pseuds/FairythePigeon
Summary: Virginia signed with far too much enthusiasm, writing in the margin “and you can keep him”, and Virgil signed with a shaky hand and too much hope for his cynical mind to process. Amara signed with love and hope and joy in her heart, and Roman signed with determination in every curling stroke. Jadir signed almost unflinchingly, and for about two weeks Logan did not sign.But in July, in his palace office, King Gregorio received four completely filled out forms. He informed his son, and Prince Patton was filled with nervous energy. Everything was going to change, hopefully for the better.A Descendants AU, because the movies make me mad, so I'll fix them how I want, and also I like the Sides a lot, a lot.
Relationships: Deceit | Janus Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 29
Kudos: 61





	1. On the Isle

Virginia Storm used to love her son. In her own way, anyway. The nurses at the Isle hospice were from the mainland of Auradon, and they never really liked working with the criminals that lived here. One nurse asked, “Do you know who his father is?”

“Does it matter?” Virginia had asked, too taken up in the look of her newly born son- tiny and wrinkled and pink as he was.

“I suppose not,” The nurse had answered, but Virginia had not been listening.

“How does Virgil sound, darling?” Virginia cooed to her son. “Virgil Storm. So we match.”

The nurses mostly ignored her, but the one writing down the certificate smiled softly. “That’s rather sweet. Welcome to the world, Virgil. Best of luck.”

Though, the nurse had perhaps spoken insensitively. There was no luck on the Isle. No goodness, no fortune, and no magic. It was where all the criminals and undesirables had been sent when King Gregorio had united the kingdoms under one flag and called the amalgamation Auradon.

Virginia Storm had been sent to the Isle because she was deemed unsafe by the court for regular imprisonment. So they sent her here and mailed her monthly medication for her myriad of mental illnesses and had her check in at the hospice weekly. It was perhaps a mistake upon the nurses’ parts that they did not bring any concerns to the king about her new son, Virgil, but that is all old news anyway. It wasn’t protocol to send concerns to the king, so it did not occur to any of them that they had to.

But quietly, all the nurses who had grown up hearing stories of Virginia Storm’s crimes as the Huntress sent their prayers to the little boy nestled in the crook of her arm as she left the hospice a week later. Those prayers went miserably unheard.

When Virgil was three years old, he had a terrible nightmare. Virginia tried to comfort him, but his eyes turned black and his teeth turned needle sharp and his nails became talons. Virginia screamed, and she went to the nurses and begged them to fix her boy but they only laughed.

They asked if she had gone off her medication, and- of course, that made sense. She must be having hallucinations from the pills. So she stopped taking them. She made sure to dispose of them, because she didn’t want Virgil, her precious angel to accidentally find them. And every month when she got a new bottle, she threw the damnable thing into the sea.

But it didn’t stop. It got worse. Whenever he was scared, he’d turn into some sort of shadow demon, and Virginia couldn’t believe that this was her son. He must have been replaced- hadn’t she heard, on the mainland, of changelings stealing infants away and replacing them with monsters?

Yes, yes, this couldn’t be her Virgil. Not her sweet, innocent, and kind baby Virgil who deserved only the best things. This wasn’t her precious little human baby, he was a freak. A replacement, a monster. Oh, but no one would believe her. Changelings were tricky little beasts. They had disguised his face to match her son. How dare they! Oh, how tragic to think of her Virgil now, a simple pile of bones in some wicked faerie’s den! Well, if they had abandoned this monster into her care, she would remedy it’s wicked habits!

Virginia did not love that he responded to only Virgil, but he already had the name anyway, so she might as well let him keep it. She told him tales of vicious animals that devoured those who did not behave, she hit him when he acted out, and she starved him if he did not complete his chores. If ever he transformed, she punished him even more severely.

Virgil Storm did not love his mother. He couldn’t remember a time when he had, the woman always made him uncomfortable. Even before she stopped calling him her son and started calling him a freak, her sharp nails always left goosebumps on his skin. He couldn’t help the transformations, they came when he felt threatened. 

When he was eight, Virgil read something in a book of laws at the decrepit old library. Supposedly it was up to legal authority to keep children out of homes in which they were being harmed. He ran to the hospice, the only _legal_ authority he knew of on the Isle, and he begged them to get him away from him mother.

Three days later, and his mother was screeching about how ungrateful he was, how he must have wasted the king’s time. Meanwhile he cried over a letter from King Gregorio offering his “regrets”, but no one was allowed to come off the Isle and into Auradon without passing the reformation exams. Apparently, he couldn’t take these exams until he was eighteen, and there would be “no exceptions,” in case it was some kind of trick.

Virgil learned quickly that the laws did not apply to him, or anyone else on the Isle. So when his mother punished him for whatever frivolous thing she chose, he fought back. He bared his teeth, he flashed his claws, and when he could connect with his squandered magic enough, he stared her down with his inky black eyes and growled to her in a warped voice all her pathetic nightmares.

By the time Virgil was fifteen, he was living mostly on his own in a rickety tree house just outside the city limits on the Isle, and he only ever saw Virginia when he finally went back home on the weekends. Sometimes she was too out of it to remember that he was a “changeling copy” of himself. Those days were nice.

Then, he received the letter.

* * *

Amara Leonis loved her son. He was all she had of her late husband. Her second late husband, actually. Amara couldn’t help but feel absolutely miserable about losing two husbands in her life. But perhaps she and her precious boy were better off without his father. He had been a cruel man, anyway, as were most men on the Isle. Oh, but not her boy.

Little Roman was going to be a gentleman. He’d sweep women off their feet, just as her first husband had done for her. Perhaps one day, when he was eighteen, he’d be gentleman enough that when he applied for a reformation license they’d be easy on him. It didn’t make sense that they didn’t just take their children from them and raise them in the Auradon mainland. Why leave innocents in this godforsaken place?

"What are you going to do, Amara?" Sandra asked, her gaze pitying as she stared down at the toddling infant in Amara's arms. Sandra had come to the Isle to be with her husband, despite all he'd done to deserve being abandoned. She believed he could be a good man, deep down, and had gotten herself trapped on the Isle due to her floundering adoration of him. She should have abandoned him, but Amara was well aware of the fear of being alone.

"I'm going to raise him, of course, Sandra," Amara decided. "It wouldn't do him any good to abandon him now."

"All by yourself? You're so brave, Amara," Sandra simpered.

"Well, if I don't raise him proper he'll never get off the Isle, you know," Amara huffed. "I ought to make sure he's got a bright future."

"You're so selfless, Amara. If my husband died and left me with the baby, I'd dump the thing at the hospice and try for the reformation exam," Sandra confessed, grimacing at the baby in Amara's arms.

"He's a living being, Sandra," Amara stated disapprovingly. "He needs to have a chance."

"A saint, Amara, among demons, is what you are," Sandra decided. Then she left the meager funeral, and Amara turned to the grave and spat on it. She could care less about her second husband- she'd only married him out of her fear of loneliness. And perhaps, in the deepest corner of her mind, she'd admit that once upon a time, she believed he loved her.

Oh, but Amara was selfish, of course. It was unlikely that she would really put her son first at all. She didn’t want to be left all alone, and all she had left was her Roman. Her imprisonment was her own fault though. She’d been the one to set dragons on her step-daughter and her suitor. And to think she’d done such a good job of ignoring her burning jealousy of the girl until then.

She didn’t want to do too much harm at first, but then an entire kingdom was on fire, and her step-daughter was in a living death, and Amara’s dragons were being cut down- things had gotten out of her hands. But her guilt did nothing to wash away the blood on her hands, so she pleaded guilty and demanded they send her to the Isle. She hadn’t expected to have a son there.

She could never tell Roman of her choices. If he learned why he had to be stuck here, then- then he’d know for sure how selfish and terrible she was. Call her vain, but she did not want to be seen as the villain of her son’s story. What a terrible mother she was! She could only hope that as soon as Roman was old enough, he ignored her and took that exam.

Amara did not realize, but at any point during her care for her baby boy, she could have passed the exam herself and been released back to Auradon with him in her arms. She would have been able to raise her son where he deserved to be. But she did not realize this, and in her fear of losing her son, and in her terror at being alone, she stubbornly stayed on the Isle.

Roman Leonis loved his mother. She tried her best, and at each of his birthdays she showed him the card from his step-sister. She sent one for him each year, but she did not send any to Mother. Mother taught him manners, but she warned him to be careful using them on the Isle. Some might pick him as an easy target if he was too polite or chivalrous among them.

Mother taught him how to protect himself, and even gave him a small dragon’s egg. After all, she wasn’t called the Dragon Queen for no reason. “Now, Roman, it won’t hatch without any magic, so it probably won’t hatch until you’re in Auradon. But take care to keep it with you, darling, as protection.”

“Of course, Mother,” Roman nodded. And while his mother never spoke of joining him in the mainland, Roman couldn’t help himself but to make a plan to bring her with him. After all, she never spoke of it, but he could see the envious shine in her eyes whenever they spoke of his future. Her grip would turn tight and possessive, her nails would dig into his skin.

Sometimes, if she was inebriated and too tipsy to keep on her feet, Mother begged him not to ever leave her behind. She begged him to stay and keep her company, pleaded with him not to grow up. So, of course, Roman had to make a plan to bring her to the Mainland to join him when left.

First, he’d have to acquire the funds and the power to do so. And what was the simplest way to acquire those than to marry a princess? Or a prince, Roman wasn’t picky. Well, he was, but this marriage wouldn’t be about his _feelings_ , it would be a status grab. For his mother. Things always sounded less cruel and villainous if they were for mothers.

Roman wasn't a villain. Certainly he was cold to anyone who contradicted him, and he snapped at those who dared to insult him, but he wasn't wicked! Roman wasn't aiming to usurp anyone, he simply wanted to influence the laws enough to secure his dreams! Success at any cost wasn't necessarily a _villainous_ thing, now, was it?

His half brother certainly seemed to think so, the way he likened Roman and himself so often. After all, wasn't playing with the heart a terrible thing? And Roman would be taking some poor princess (or hopefully prince!) and manipulating her feelings with no regard for her happiness. He would only be taking, and never giving.

Well, when you put it that way… Oh, forget it! Roman didn’t deserve the Isle, and neither did his mother. He was as sure of that as he was sure of the color of his hair: auburn brown.

Roman was sixteen when he finally figured out most of his plan. Get to Auradon via the exams once he was a full citizen, seduce a princess, gain money and power, begin to alter the laws, get his mother off the Isle, and maybe have a cute boyfriend on the side. Flawless.

Then, his mother showed him the letter.

* * *

Logan Croft did not define himself by his father. His father hadn’t even known of his existence until he was ten years old, and his mother had died, and the nurses had had nowhere else to send him. In his early years, his mother told him his father did not matter. She was more than enough of a parent for him.

Logan found he quite agreed, even if the stolen library books he amassed often revealed several age-old debates about whether or not a boy needed his father’s influence in his life. It did not matter to him, however, that his father did not care to know about him. His mother was intelligent, sharp witted, and clever.

Elizabeth Croft’s relation to several famed criminals is what had her sent to the Isle, as King Gregorio was terrified of those who might protest his new criminal detainment proposition. As well he should, for Logan could come up with innumerable reasons to convict King Gregorio of breaking humane laws with the invention of the Isle. Elizabeth, now stranded on the Isle for no reason despite being the only decent member of her family, was enraged at her misfortune.

With her anger, she taught Logan how to be able to trust. Which was to only trust his own mind, because that could not be tricked. Certainly, his eyes could be tricked, and his memories could be falsified through different spells, but his logic? That could only be tainted by emotion. Logan didn’t _do_ emotion.

When Logan was introduced by the stammering, terrified nurses to his father, he looked at the man coldly, and the man looked at him just as coldly. Logan’s skin was paler, though still an even brown. His eyes were blue, compared to his father’s brown. His hair was the same color as well. But their similarities ended at their matching jawlines. Logan looked much more like his mother.

Elizabeth had, upon principle in her rage towards King Gregorio, refused to take the reformation exams to return to Auradon. In that sense, Logan’s parents were similar. Jadir, better known as the Red Emperor to all too terrified to speak his name, seemed to chafe at the very idea of bowing to the king. He ranted about how he should have been the one to unite the kingdoms, but some third-rate thieving street rat had stolen his crown from him. And he was celebrated for it! Celebrated for proving that he had not changed one bit, that he would always be a no good burglar.

Logan could care less about his father’s vendetta, and his father could care less about him. They barely spoke to one another on the better days, and the worst days all Jadir did was rant about genies and wishes and flying carpets. Frivolous things that Logan took no interest in. One could not truly study magic, as magic did not truly have rules. It was too disorderly for Logan’s liking, and he preferred to stick to science.

The Isle was not a place of intelligence, however. Logan might have had a brilliant mind, but the only use the Isle had for brilliant minds was trickery and scheming. Logan had, on occasion, considered taking the exam and going to Auradon. But it was unlikely he would pass the exam, seeing as no one did. Only one or two Isle inmates had ever left the Isle, supposedly totally reformed, in all the twenty years the Isle had existed. The exams were likely rigged, so it served to Logan that he may never get off the Isle even if he tried.

Even so, would he really want to live in a land ruled totally by King Gregorio? Sure, the Isle lived under his law as well, but there wasn’t anyone to enforce it. The only Mainland folk were the barge captains that came in with the weekly supply shipments, and the nurses in the hospice. The nurses never left the hospice building except to teach at the school, and the barge captains stayed on their boats while the Isle inmates waited on the docks for the first pick of the supplies.

Logan did not think he would like to live in Auradon with King Gregorio at the crown. His mother had taught him to trust only the facts, and the facts as Logan saw them said that King Gregorio was not a very just or intelligent man.

By the time Logan was sixteen, he had decided that Auradon wasn’t worth it. After all, he was surviving just fine on the Isle. It was better to be ignored by most everyone and everything here, and that was how he liked it. After all, to draw attention in such a dangerous place would simply be illogical.

Then his father’s attention caught on a letter.

* * *

Nothing needed to be said about Janus’s childhood. Janus of the Fae didn’t care about it, nobody on the Isle cared about it. It simply didn’t matter. Janus had been born to the most terrifying of terrors. They called him the Lord of the Isle, because in a land where the laws of King Gregorio were ignored, his word was law.

His name was Deceit, and he ruled with an iron fist. While he had only the bare minimum of his magic, enough to impose his will with eye contact, he could no longer conjure flames or produce illusions. He was weakened by the enchanted barrier around the island.

Janus longed to be like his father. The scales over half his face promised that one day he would be like him, one day he could have the same commanding presence, the same deliciously cold heart. The same power to throw away ridiculous, weak emotions. He didn’t want his father’s endless disappointment, but it seemed with everything he tried to do, Janus would only get that heavy sigh and miniscule shake of the head.

It was when Janus was sixteen that everything changed. It was late June. The nurses had finished the school year weeks ago, the final exams had been done on the first day back from their extended spring break. That was also their last day of school.

Deceit chuckled as he plucked a letter from their mailbox. Janus looked up in confusion and blinked. “What is it, Father?”

“It’s the Royal seal,” Deceit mused in his dulcet tones, as he held the letter in front of his son’s face. Janus had only seen the Royal seal as a logo for the Royal proclamations that were displayed on every television on the Isle- of which there were very few. He wanted so badly to snatch it from his father and examine it in greater detail, but Deceit pulled it back to study the other side, where the addressee was written.

“To the parents of- Oho! Well well well, the king has business with little old me! In regards to you,” Deceit patted Janus on the head a little too hard, and Janus swallowed. The king had business that had to do with _him_? What could it be?

Deceit walked towards the kitchen, humming thoughtfully as he opened the letter. “‘To Whom it May Concern’- oh, I see, they’re simply too terrified to address Deceit! How droll!”

It was quite amusing, and Janus couldn’t help his smug smirk. His father, even powerless and detained as he was, scared the king so much he couldn’t even write his name.

“ _‘We write to inform you of the First Proclamation of Prince Patton Sanders’_ \- blah blah blah- _‘The proclamation as written will be an order to reintegrate children of the Isle into Auradonian civil society’_ \- well, that’s rude, just a bit, I’d say I’m quite civil. _‘Enclosed is a form relinquishing your guardianship of your son for the duration of the school year’_ \- excuse me, what?” Deceit froze in the center of the room, and Janus stared at the paper in his father’s hands with wide eyes. Deceit snapped his jaw shut, his eyes darting across the rest of the letter as he read it in silence. Janus could only stare at his father, wondering what was going through his mind as those serpentine eyes moved so quickly.

At the end of the letter, Deceit turned his gaze to Janus, who felt incredibly small under his father’s sudden sharp gaze. Janus already had a bit of an idea of what the letter said, but he couldn’t help his timid question, “What is it?”

Deceit grinned, his sharp teeth making it look far less friendly than the man would have looked otherwise. “It’s a request for me to send you over to Auradon and give up my rights as your father for as long as you’re there.”

“They- they can do that?” Janus asked, feeling the blood rush from his face.

“Oh, King Gregorio can do anything he likes! That’s why he abandoned us on the Isle in the first place, because he could care less about folk like us. Oh, but apparently his sweet little darling son is such a bleeding heart he couldn’t stand to see innocent children on an island made of garbage and waste! Like I would believe that. The prince wants to be known as the King who gave the next generation a chance! He’s just aiming for popularity with the next generation so none of them wise up and decide to overthrow him because of his weakness- hah!”

Janus knew better than to interrupt his father during one of his rants, so he kept silent as Deceit lectured him on how, in the old days, weak kings were overthrown within a week of their coronation. Finally, Deceit settled himself. “To answer your question, they technically can’t. Not if they’re unwilling to break their own laws. They have to ask my consent, blah blah blah. Legal shit, you’re too dimwitted to understand.”

Janus frowned, but he didn’t comment. His father didn't like to be contradicted.

“Of course, I’m going to sign,” Deceit decided.

“What!?” Janus exclaimed. “You’re just going to give me up like that!?”

“Oh, shut up, I receive legal rights over you again next June, and I only lose it in September,” Deceit huffed, waving his hand as if it didn’t matter. Janus spluttered at the callousness of the words. Sure, he knew his father didn’t really do _caring_ , but surely he cared for him at least a little!

“You just said King Gregorio can do anything he likes! What if he decides not to return legal rights to you? Seeing as you’re, gee, I don’t know, a criminal who can’t hire a lawyer against him or anyone else?” Janus argued.

“Oh, I’m not worried about that,” Deceit smirked. “You see, once you’re over there, you’ll have access to your magic.”

Janus blinked, surprised. “Wait, what do you-”

“Oh, you moronic simpleton! Need I spell out everything for you? Once you get into Auradon, you will use your newfound magic to track down the Fairy God- _bother_ ’s wand and break the barrier. Once it is broken, I will have my magic returned to me, and we don’t need to worry about King Gregorio or his adorable little Prince Patton ever again,” Deceit explained, looking down at Janus like he was an idiot. Janus _felt_ like an idiot too.

“The Fairy Godmother’s wand?” Janus asked. “You trust me with this mission?”

“I don’t trust anything or anyone, idiot. But be warned, if you do not bring me the wand, I will find another way off of this island, and when I do, you will be the first thing I go after,” Deceit snarled, his eyes flashing yellow with his residual magic.

Janus swallowed. “I’ll do it, Father. You can count on me.”

“Good!” Deceit grinned, showing off all his teeth. Then he took a pen and clicked it, signing the enclosed form with his chosen name. The name Janus still had to prove himself worthy of. When Deceit offered him the pen, Janus took it, signing his own name underneath his father’s.

_Janus of the Fae_.

Everything was going to change, and not just for Janus.

Virginia signed with far too much enthusiasm, writing in the margin “ _and you can keep him_ ”, and Virgil signed with a shaky hand and too much hope for his cynical mind to process. Amara signed with love and hope and joy in her heart, and Roman signed with determination in every curling stroke. Jadir signed almost unflinchingly, and for about two weeks Logan did not sign.

But in July, in his palace office, King Gregorio received four completely filled out forms. He informed his son, and Prince Patton was filled with nervous energy. Everything was going to change, hopefully for the better.


	2. Welcome to Auradon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton introduces the Isle kids to Auradon! Thomas and the kids experience a bit of culture shock.

Prince Patton Sanders was a ball of excited energy as he rocked from his heels to his toes and back. His eyes were wide behind thick rimmed glasses, and his ash brown curls framed his freckled peach tinted cheeks. “Oh, Thomas, I’m so excited! Can you believe they’re going to be here any minute?”

“I can’t,” Thomas said, shaking his head. “I honestly can’t believe Dad let you do this for your first proclamation.”

“Well, a first proclamation is a lot of pressure, kiddo! I had to make sure to make a good first impression, and I want to be a king who’s good and just! So the fairy tales don’t have to exaggerate or lie when they tell my story someday,” Patton grinned.

“You’re so sure you’re going to have a fairy tale one day, Pat?” Thomas questioned his elder brother, folding his arms thoughtfully.

“Well, of course I'm not sure,” Patton said. “But you have to believe you’ll do great things if you want to be able to do them!”

Thomas smiled, resting his cheek on his hand as he leaned over the bannister. “I bet you’ll do great things, Pat. I just hope I’ll get to be a part of your story.”

Patton gasped, scandalized. “Well of course you would be, Thomas! I’d be nothing without my baby brother!”

“I’m only eleven months younger than you,” Thomas said wryly. Patton merely giggled and waved him off, looking out across the courtyard towards the road for any sign of the car he’d sent to pick up the Isle transfers from the docks.

There-! He could see it. Patton grabbed Thomas’ arm and honest to Betsy,  _ squeaked _ . The door to the balcony swung open a bit easier than whoever opened it had meant it to, and it slammed on the brick wall, startling both princes. They turned around to see Emile Picani looking sheepish, his arms stretched out in an aborted attempt to catch the door. “Uh, your Highnesses, the transfers are on their way, ETA like. A minute.”

“Then we’d better hurry so we can greet them! Come on, Thoma-llama-ding-dong!” Patton darted off the balcony and through the sitting room, hurrying down the hall towards the staircase that led to the main entrance of the palace that served as the campus for Auradon Prep. He could hear Thomas and Emile hurrying after him, but he didn’t care to slow down. He rushed out the front door to find that Fairy Godmother and Remy were already there.

While Patton didn’t receive a fairy blessing when he was born, Thomas had, and Fairy Godmother was his actual, genuine Fairy Godmother. He and Lady Ella went on god-sibling outings so Thomas could have other people to talk to once Patton got busy as the king starting in the summer. Patton tried not to be too upset- every royal family had an heir, after all, and not being able to choose was part of the job description.

Fairy Godmother gave him an appraising smile, and nodded. “You look very regal today, Prince Patton. It’ll be a good first impression on the transfers.”

Will it? Patton was starting to feel nervous. Maybe wearing the blue and gold should have been saved for strictly formal events. The car pulled into the courtyard, driving through the roundabout and stopping just before them. Patton took a deep breath, trying not to squint to try and see through the tinted windows.

It was then, in that moment, the driver exited the car and went around, opening the passenger door. Patton couldn’t help but hold his breath as the figures inside began to scramble out of the large limousine.

The first boy to come from the Isle was officially Roman Leonis. His forms had come with a picture provided by his mother, and a short letter on grimy paper asking that he be permanently transferred to the Mainland so that he could have a better shot. According to the letter, his education was neglected, and he wasn’t getting proper meals every day, and Amara simply wanted what was right for her little prince. Patton had begged his father to write back and approve, but Gregorio insisted that they were here on a trial basis only. Roman was green eyed, with auburn waves of hair framing his sun browned face. He was dressed in a grubby white jacket, almost a murky gray from improper care, with a red shirt and plain meticulously mended jeans. His shoes were scuffed, but clean.

The second boy to come from the Isle, as in the second to exit the limousine and take in the vibrancy of the Mainland around him, was Logan Croft. While he hadn’t sent a picture, he had requested a proper glasses prescription, and the way he was peering through scratched and mangled spectacles set him apart from the others. He had pitch black hair and tan skin, but otherwise he looked nothing like his father, with brilliant blue eyes and as formal an outfit as he could cobble together. Worn brown loafers, with patched slacks and a green tie hanging loosely from a stained, brown shirt collar.

The third boy to exit the limousine was in fact the most easily recognizable. He had to be Janus of the Fae, half his face bearing the tell tale green scales of Deceit. His left eye was a vibrant yellow, but his right was a soft, human brown. He was decked out in a black leather jacket and torn up black jeans, and atop his head sat a small, roughed up bowler hat. He was wearing fingerless gloves, though the finger holes were frayed marking the “fingerless” trait as less than intended, and his left fingertips each had sharp talons and green scales. He was wearing sturdy combat boots- with obvious globs of glue keeping the soles stuck in place.

The last boy was, by default, Virgil Storm, whose mother had signed her name so fast that she’d torn the form a few times. Then she’d written in bold letters:  _ keep him _ . According to records found later on, Virgil Storm had filed abuse claims against his mother as a child and been immorally ignored, so Patton was more than willing to comply with his mother’s written demand. But same as Roman, Gregorio had argued about the probationary trial period. Virgil was small-- or thin, anyway, he was actually kind of tall-- and his shoulders hunched forward so he could hide in his own grubby, patched up hoodie. Both his torn up T-shirt and his more-holes-than-fabric jeans hung off him like saggy skin on an old woman’s arm.

All in all, the four of them stood out starkly against the clean and pristine surroundings of Auradon Prep.

“Welcome, boys,” the Fairy Godmother smiled tightly as she examined the four boys, “to Auradon Preparatory Academy! I’m the Fairy Godmother, the headmistress.”

All four boys looked a bit interested now, and Roman opened his mouth to speak, but Janus beat him to it. “Fairy Godmother? Like, bippity boppity boo?”

Janus made a motion like he was flicking a wand, but just as the Fairy Godmother went to respond, Roman piped up, “I heard that from rags to riches, you are the baddest of bitches!”

Logan looked confused near immediately, looking towards Roman, who in comparison to the others looked almost fancy. “Really? I heard she was one of the top spokespeople for the goodness of Aura-”

“Logan, it’s a figure of speech,” Virgil muttered, and the boy in the scratched glasses snapped his jaw shut.

“I see,” Logan stated flatly.

The Fairy Godmother chuckled. “Yes, well, I am certainly the Fairy Godmother. Rags to riches is my most well known accomplishment, but my proudest accomplishment is this school! And as I always say, if you keep looking to the past, you’ll miss the future!”

Well, as exceedingly cheesy as that was, it got the point across. Patton grinned. “Thank you very much, Fairy Godmother, I can take it from here.”

“Oh!” Fairy Godmother blinked. “Right, well, if you need me, Patton will give you my office hours, and remember: the doors of wisdom are never shut!”

With that, she turned on her heel and began to make her way off. Patton smiled at the transfers and gestured vaguely at the world around them.

"Let me be the first to welcome you to the Auradon mainland!" Patton exclaimed.

"The driver already welcomed us," Logan spoke up.

"Yeah, but he was being sarcastic," Roman pointed out. "Whereas you look absolutely dashing! Are you our guide?"

"Oh! No no no, not me! I'm just your happy pappy Patton!" Patton exclaimed.

"There is no way you're a father," Logan muttered, and Janus elbowed him  _ hard _ .

"Actually, that would be  _ Prince _ Patton Sanders to you," Remy announced, resting his arm on Patton's shoulder.

"A prince! I'm the son of the Dragon Queen, so I suppose we have that in common!" Roman announced, and Patton could only smile.

"Technically, your mother doesn't have a recognized crown, so… neither she nor you have any status here," Remy said. Roman glared at him, and Patton had no idea what to do.

"Okay!" Thomas interrupted, stepping forward. "Hi! My name is Thomas Sanders, I'm Patton's younger brother. This sassy man is Remy Sonoris."

Janus's face shuttered at the name, while Logan and Roman simply narrowed their eyes in thought. Virgil didn't seem to want to react to anything, his head still bowed and his hood firmly pulled over his face.

"Are all of you royalty?" Logan asked, curiously turning his gaze towards Emile.

"Oh, no. My name is Emile Picani! I'm just lucky to have the opportunity to work closely with Patton in the future as an advisor," Emile explained.

"Interesting," Janus hummed, and Patton noticed the way his S's caught on his tongue. "Very well, which of you is our guide, if not the Crown Prince?"

"That'd be me," Thomas piped up, waggling his fingers. "Do you want the grand tour now, or tomorrow? Classes don't start until Monday, so we have all weekend."

"I'd rather just get some... rest. Maybe tomorrow you can show us around," Janus said. He looked at the other three and frowned. "Though I can't speak for everyone."

"I'd love to get a bit of a look around! I've never been in a real castle before, and to think our  _ school _ is one!" Roman squealed.

"If you could point me to the library, I'll be sure to figure out the layout of the building for myself," Logan said, pushing up his glasses. Patton frowned.

"And what about you?" He asked, turning to the fourth transfer. He was indecipherable with his hood pulled so low.

"I don't feel so good," Virgil groaned out finally, after several moments of silence. Janus yelped suddenly, jumping away from Virgil like he'd been stung.

"What was  _ that _ !?" Janus demanded.

It was a moment later that Patton felt it, a wave of powerful magic emanating from the scrawny boy as he clung to his own middle. The shadows stretched under him, and he lifted his head, showing sharp fangs and pure black eyes.

"I think I'm gonna-" and he had no time for further warning before he crumpled over and began heaving out black, putrid blood.

Patton sprang to action. "Emile, get the nurse!"

"On it!"

* * *

Janus thought it was a little funny how much more sophisticated and clean the nurse's office was than the hospice on the Isle. They couldn't even send the same medical care to the criminals. What were they trying to do, kill them off with ruined leftovers?

He, Logan, and Roman had been in the nurse's office for all of a few minutes being poked and prodded for any possible negative reactions to the magical atmosphere. They didn't answer any questions about Virgil, or where the people had taken him in the car with the spinning lights and the siren.

Now, the four of them were signed up for magic lessons with the Fairy Godmother, as Prince Thomas was explaining to them now.

"Excuse me," Janus interrupted, and Thomas paused.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Is the Fairy Godmother well versed in wandless magic? Or will we be asked to choose spell focuses of our own?" Janus asked. Thomas chuckled.

"Well, a spell focus contains a magic of its own. In the wrong hands, they could do incredible damage, so they've been outlawed for years. No, Fairy Godmother's wand is in the Museum of Legendary Artefacts- she only uses it for blessings, as allowed by the law of the King," Thomas explained. Janus snorted.

"It sounds almost like King Gregorio doesn't trust his own people," Janus said.

"Well, it's all for the good of the land, isn't it? A criminal can pop out of anywhere," Roman pointed out, still examining the strange item the nurse gave him when he found Roman staring at the jar of them. It was a round colorful slab on a white stick, wrapped in clear plastic. "I mean, our parents all came from Auradon- so it can't all be happy endings here."

Thomas' brow creased and he frowned. He seemed to agree. Janus wondered if he could convince the boy to… no, that would be an unnecessary risk. He would do this himself.

"But to answer your question, Janus, Fairy Godmother is a  _ faerie _ , much like yourself. To take away her magic is to reduce her to nothing. She can cast spells just as easily without her wand as with," Thomas explained. Janus nodded. That was similar to why his father and he still had some magic on the Isle. A faerie couldn't exist without it.

"Why must I take these magic classes? I'm of the mundane blood," Logan pitched in.

"Well, the first class might be the only one you have to attend. Fairy Godmother is just going to evaluate your… essence, I guess, and determine whether or not you'd be able to perform magic," Thomas explained.

"Oh, that would be a dream!" Roman sighed happily.

Thomas eyed him in confusion for a moment. "Hey, have you never had a lollipop before?"

Roman blinked and looked at the thing in his hands. "A what?"

"A- a  _ lollipop _ . It's candy?" Thomas explained.

"Candy," Janus repeated, testing the word on his tongue.

"Ah. Roman, it's for consumption. You put it in your mouth and it dissolves slowly," Logan explained.

"Oh! It's so brightly colored though, like a dart frog," Roman commented, studying the bright blue circle.

"Geez, you guys have never had candy before?" Thomas asked. They all three shook their heads. "Okay, you know what- follow me."

"What about Virgil?" Janus asked. He barely knew these people, but he really didn't want to get split up from even slightly familiar things in an unfamiliar environment. He already felt like a dark smudge on a clean window.

"Well, the ambulance already came and took him to the hospital," Thomas said. "So there's no use waiting for him right now. He'll be back by the morning."

" _ That _ wasn't the hospital?" Roman asked. Logan simply nodded like he expected as much. Janus wondered just how much knowledge that invisible little nerd had.

"No? The hospital is way bigger. And it has more tools, which are necessary to treat conditions like his." Thomas explained. "Did you want me to just take you to your rooms to wait for Virgil?"

"I don't see the point. If he'll take that long, then let's just go see what this 'candy' thing is all about," Janus said. Roman nodded emphatically, now trying to unwrap his lollipop.

Thomas nodded and began to lead the way, pointing out rooms and what they were for along the way. Logan got distracted momentarily by the library, so Thomas took them inside and the four eyes practically lost his jaw. Janus and Roman were rather impressed too, neither had ever seen this many books in one place.

Thomas regaled them with some ridiculous anecdotes about how his mother loved to read and blah, blah, blah- Janus had tuned it out as soon as King Gregorio was mentioned. Logan was too absorbed in reading titles, but Roman seemed enthralled by the tale.

The tour picked back up rather quickly however, leading them out of the library and finally to the dorm hall.

"These are the boy's dorms. You're not allowed in the girl's dorms, but they're on the opposite side of the castle, same position," Thomas explained.

"Oh, the palace is symmetrical?" Logan asked.

"Are the classes separated by biological sex?" Roman asked.

"The school is symmetrical, yeah. And no, the classes are mixed," Thomas answered. He smiled. "I'll take you to your dorms, but first let's go to mine. I've got a candy stash in there."

"Are all the dorms the same?" Roman asked, as they were led down the hall.

"Yeah, all the same size and everything. There are two empty boy's rooms this year, which is why four of you were chosen, as opposed to a more equal number of the biological sexes," Thomas explained. Logan hummed thoughtfully, and Roman gasped, horrified.

"I have to share a room!? I thought this place was supposed to be better than back home!" Roman cried out, clearly ignoring the leagues of improvement that they'd already seen.

"Are there gender neutral dorms?" Logan asked, and Thomas sighed.

"No. Dad- er,  _ the King _ is a little conservative. Let's just say he's out of touch and leave it at that," Thomas informed. Logan snorted derisively.

"Should you be speaking out against your king that way?" Janus asked airily. He wondered just how close the princes were to their father.

"I can roast him for being an idiot whenever I want," Thomas proclaimed, with all the air of someone who would absolutely never say such a thing to his father's face. Janus smirked. He could relate. He doubted, however, that King Gregorio would strike his son over such a comment.

"I thought Fairy Godmother ran the school?" Logan questioned.

"She does," Thomas agreed. "As per the King's instructions."

Thomas stopped in front of a door. "This is my dorm. I'd invite you in, but Remy made it pretty clear a earlier that he doesn't really plan on playing nice, so… wait out here?"

Ah, yes. Remy Sonoris, son of Aurore Sonoris. The infamous princess cursed one hundred years ago to eternal sleep while her subject suffered a plague of undeath and snakes. Deceit was well known for the petty actions that led to this plague- the revenge he sought on the innocent daughter of the woman who broke his heart and stole the impressive scaled wings that once adorned his back. Janus, however, almost agreed with his father. The woman who'd stolen his wings was a monster. Janus feared that his own wings, should he grow any, would also be stolen from him in such a manner. He wasn't sure how he would respond, but it wouldn't be pretty.

Deceit was known as the most wicked and dangerous on the Isle for a reason. One hundred years of being killed but not dying? It left scars on the minds of an entire kingdom. The actions of one woman had him retaliate a million fold on an entire populace. That woman was old now, very late into her second century no doubt. But Aurore's true love had broken the spell -the  _ curse _ \- upon the entire kingdom after a century, and apparently, granted her a son.

Janus had no interest in making friends with this "Remy Sonoris". However, making friends with Thomas seemed beneficial.

"So what do you think is wrong with Virgil?" Roman piped up. Janus raised an eyebrow. He didn't know either of the other two very well, and hadn't expected being pulled into conversation with them.

"Judging by Janus' reaction, it was likely that he's some brand of magical creature- at least half blooded," Logan explained. Janus wrinkled his nose.

"I hated that. It felt like his magic was trying to grab mine down with it. Like he was invading my space," Janus grumbled.

"And the shadows were acting oddly. I suspect he's probably some kind of shadow demon. Many of the criminals on the Isle made deals and bargains with shadow demons, so I understand why a few might have wound up stranded there. And no one would notice, as most of their magic would've been suppressed," Logan explained.

"So you think it was the sun," Roman surmised. "That his magic coming in full force made the sun try to kill him."

"Precisely," Logan agreed. Janus mused on the thought for a bit.

"He's a creepy cookie," Roman said with a grimace. He turned to Logan and smiled dashingly. "You seem smart as a whip, in contrast! What else do you have in that big brain?"

"What are you interested in knowing?" Logan asked suspiciously.

"How about dragon hatchery? Know anything about that?" Roman asked.

"Depends. Do you have an egg?" Logan asked. Roman spluttered.

"Of course I don't have an  _ egg _ ! I would've had to smuggle it into Auradon, and  _ smuggling _ is  _ illegal _ , and breaking the law would get me sent back to the Isle!" Roman protested. Janus snorted.

"You're a poor liar."

"Excuse you! I am an  _ excellent _ liar- and I'm not lying!" Roman squawked.

The door opened then, making all three of them fall silent and turn to look at Thomas, who exited his room with a bag of brightly colored wrappings. He smiled awkwardly, feeling the odd tension.

"So, I've got chocolate!" Thomas announced.

"You said you'd bring candy," Janus reminded.

"Chocolate is candy," Logan interrupted.

"Wow, Mr. Know All, want to describe to me in detail the  _ taste _ while you're at it?" Janus snapped. Logan glared at him.

"Uhh, here," Thomas interrupted, and he handed them each a piece of small token wrapped in golden foil. "Um, I'll show you to your rooms! Uh, Roman and Janus, yours is up first."

"I'm rooming with Scales here?" Roman asked. He frowned and studied Janus from head to toe. Janus scowled. "Are you sure I can't have my own room?"

"I'm not thrilled either,  _ princess _ ," Janus hissed.

"Princess- I am a  _ manly man _ !" Roman shrieked, his voice breaking on the word manly. Logan and Janus both sniggered, and Roman's cheeks burned.

Thomas cleared his throat. "Uh, here's your room. Dorm changes can be negotiated at the start of next term-"

"When is that?" Roman demanded.

"Uh," Thomas glanced between the three of them. "January?"

" _ January!? _ " Roman demanded.

"Well- unless you believe your roommate is causing you problems-"

"What constitutes a problem?" Logan interrupted. Thomas blinked, and Janus sighed, smoothly stepping in.

"We'll do our best to make things work, Thomas darling. Why don't you show Roman and I to our dorm, then take Logan to his? We'll be sure to take our questions to the school staff," Janus assured. Thomas sighed, his shoulders relaxing.

"Just this way, come on."

Janus noticed Roman returning to his lollipop debacle, and the wrapping gave in after a light tug. Roman placed the thing on his tongue, then stopped in his tracks.

"Roman?" Logan asked.

"What's wrong, what is happening?" Janus asked, very much unsettled.

"Oh, do you like it?" Thomas asked.

"Like it?  _ Like it _ ?" Roman demanded, speaking around the blue lollipop. "LIKE IT!?"

"Dear gods," Logan huffed.

"I guess you do, then," Thomas chuckled. "Yeah, it's pretty great. It's berry flavored."

"Berry? What's a berry?" Roman asked, and Thomas stared, jaw dropped.

"You don't- you don't know what a  _ berry _ is?" Thomas asked. Roman and Janus shook their heads.

"From what I've read, they have a very short shelf life. They almost never survive the trip to the Isle, let alone storage there," Logan explained.

"What kind of hell do you live in?" Thomas asked, and then he clapped his hand over his mouth, startled.

Janus snorted and folded his arms. "One your  _ father _ made."

Thomas flinched, some kind of regret and guilt in his eyes. He turned sharply towards a door and opened it up. "Uh, this is your room, Roman. Janus."

Janus stepped in first, the door being closer to him, and squinted into the bright glare coming from the windows spanning the entire far wall.

Roman darted in behind him and squealed in delight. "Oh, it's perfect-"

"-ly dreadful," Janus finished. "How much sunlight do you  _ need _ in this fucking kingdom?"

"Don't be such a sour serpent, Janus! Think of it this way- I'm sure it'll be nice to get some sun on your scales!" Roman pointed out. Okay,  _ fair _ , but that didn't mean he had to like it.

"Well, settle in guys! The guards already brought in your bags- is… is that all you packed?" Thomas stared at the few meager bags huddled in the middle of the room. Janus tugged his single small suitcase out of the pile.

"Yes, this is all," Janus said.

"That's my things accounted for!" Roman agreed, opening the small backpack beside his small, bulging duffle bag. It was the most luggage Janus had ever seen, personally. Thomas looked distressed.

"Is that enough for the whole year?" He asked.

"I mean, it's all I have," Janus said, shrugging.

"Oh geez," Thomas muttered. "I… I'm gonna talk to Dad."

Then, Thomas shut the door, leaving the two of them alone and taking Logan to his own room. Janus hummed and turned to Roman.

"So how  _ did _ you smuggle a dragon egg into Auradon?" Janus asked.

"I didn't," Roman huffed. "And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you,  _ Deceit Junior _ ."

Janus preened at the words. "Wise choice."


End file.
